Book Review

Below is the review I wrote of Sherri Haab's new book for Amazon.com
Sherri Haab's new book Beaded Macrame Jewelry interested me from the start since I used to make a lot of jewelry using macrame. In fact that is how I got started making ceramic beads. I couldn't find commercial beads large enough to fit the hemp cord I was using then. Well now things have changed a lot. There are many wonderful handmade beads on the market that have large holes and wonderful new cords and material to use with them. This book is focused on using many of the new large holed handmade beads. Although lampwork beads are usually featured, the new ceramic beads you can find on Etsy and Just Beads on the Internet would work equally as well. And you know I am biased on the subject of ceramic beads. The book shows you the basic Macrame knots in clear large illustrations and then goes on to introduce you to a number of attractive projects. I have been having a lot of fun with the Japanese Cord Bracelet. I was attracted to this project because I had some of this wonderful Japanese Noro cording on hand in several different colors. By the way this stuff is gorgeous. Here is an example of my interpretation of the Japanese Cord Bracelet.

And now I am using this same technique to make a necklace.

There is another reason I love this book and that is the very simple sliding closure that makes it possible to adjust the size of any bracelet or necklace. She gives you two versions of this very handy adjustable ending.
There are many attractive projects in the book ranging from leather cord bracelets, macrame rings and earrings, to complex necklaces and even a purse using yarn and ribbon.
This book is available from Amazon.com and other books stores.

Hot from the kiln today

Here is a photo of some of the pieces I took out of the kiln this morning. I am putting them on my website under a newly created category, New Work. These pieces will be there for a month. They are one of a kind and are ready for immediate purchase.

Potsdam Summer Festival

Again this year, the Potsdam Summer Festival Arts and Crafts Fair was on a beautiful sunny summer day. Before and after it rained and sadly it is still raining here in the North Country. The river is so full from all this rain, it looks like our dock is going to set sail. Hopefully not.

The photo above is a shot of some of my hand made bracelets that I had on display.

I want to thank all my friends and customers and return customers for visiting my booth. You made my day. I always look forward to this annual event. See you next year.

Highlights of my Ceramic Bead Glazing Class

I have unpacked the kiln, packed up every one's beads and sent them off. But before they left, I took some pics so that all could see what we made. It was hard to tell how the beads would come out during class since by the end of the day, all the beads were covered in a pinkish white glaze. So now you can see what your friends made. All of you are so creative!!!

July Art Bead Scene Submission

Here is my bracelet for the July Art Bead Scene Monthly Challenge. I used my handmade ceramic button, raku beads, and a ceramic bird along with some glass beads. The cord is macramed Noro Japanese cotton and rayon. The bracelet is light and comfortable to wear. I love the Noro cord which I bought last summer when the new Fiber Options store openned in a small village nearby. I am glad to find a good use for it and am making another bracelet in another set of colors as well.

Jewelry Art Exchange with Gaea, Lorelei, Joelle and Jennifer

A few weeks ago Gaea came up with the idea of a Jewelry /Art Exchange on her blog. I learned about this fun project from Lorelei's blog and wrote in to Gaea that I would like to participate. I am not quite sure of all the artists who have joined in but will add their names as I learn of them. So far I am the third person to add to this necklace. Below I have included pictures of the additions as they were made and by whom.


Lorelei's contribution (above) Joelle's contribution (above)

Mary Harding's contribution (ab0ve)

I added a small bird, a red gemstone, the green fiber chain, and the toggle clasp. I have really enjoyed this challenge. Can't wait to see how it turns out. The small bird and the toggle clasp are ceramic beads handmade by me. Now the necklace is going on its way to Jennifer Stumpf .

Peeking Into My Ceramic Bead Class Kiln

Here is a preview of the beautiful beads created and glazed by my Ceramic Bead Glazing Class that I taught at the Handweaving Museum in Clayton, NY on July 16. This class gave students the opportunity to bring previously bisqued beads they had made or to have a selection of bisque beads that I had handmade to glaze. No wet clay in this class. Just glazes and stains. There are more beads under this shelf that I haven't even seen yet. I will be posting more photos soon. Trying hard to keep the beads in place so that I can read my map and get every one's beads in the right box to return to them.

Right Angle Weave Class

I taught my Right Angle Weave Bracelet class on Wednesday at the Handweaving Museum in Clayton, NY. It was a beautiful summery waterfront day with a great breeze coming in the museum windows. All of the bracelets came out beautifully--9 in all. Attesting to the versatility of Right Angle Weave (RAW) is the variety of the work the students created. Some bracelets were dainty and classy, some organic, chunky and contemporary and some had the distinct vintage look.

The class was a bit large so next time I will suggest a 6 person limit. Luckily 4 of my students drove with me and we got there plenty early and could get a head start.
In addition to having a wonderful class of students, the new Programming Coordinator, Juliann Schindler was so welcoming and enthusiastic that she makes me want to come back again, despite the long drive.

Jewelry Exchange with Gaea, Lorelei, Joelle, and, Jennifer

I received part of a necklace in the mail the other day which I am excited to be able to contribute to. So far it looks like this:

I can add whatever I want, Gaea tells me. I could even take away, but I would never want to do that. So this afternoon I will be working on my addition. Hopefully it will add up right.

Toggle clasps

New toggle clasps ready to glaze.

New glazed toggle clasps fresh from the kiln.

Art Bead Scene Submission for June

This is a photo of my submission to the ArtBeadScene Monthly Challenge. This month the theme is Pearls of Wisdom. I have titled my necklace Mom A Pearl of Wisdom. The necklace is made with my handmade copper pendant stamped with MOM in numerous places. I have also used one of my handmade raku beads with a copper finish. The two chains are antiqued brass. I have wire wrapped one Swarovski pearl as well as other charms to hang from the pendant. The clasp is copper as well as some of the jump rings and wire wrapping on the raku bead. The green glass is beach glass I found on the shores of Lake Erie. I drilled holes in them and they too are on copper jump rings that I made. I did not preplan to use Mom in this necklace but when I went to make the pendant the word Mom just popped up and off I went. I don't think of this as a sentimental tribute to my Mom or myself. But as I grow older and become more aware of how Mom's can and do change the world, I have the idea of Mom on my mind more often.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Beaders

This extraordinary lady is going to be the photo for a new section in my newsletter I am calling Let Us Now Praise Famous Beaders. And indeed let us praise the children of the Elmwood Village Charter School who created her. She is clearly a beader in her own right with a fabulous necklace in white. Unlike James Agee, I will be focusing on beaders both known and unknown with the purpose of exploring some of my favorite artists and finding new ones. Check out my newsletter by signing up for it here or on my website. I ususally send it out the last Sunday of the month.

This Year I am Having a Garden

For the last quite a few years, we haven't had a garden because the deer have eaten it up. The final straw was the year they took a bite out of all of my tomatoes. That was it. In the meantime, I have been using a very tiny garden that we annexed onto the chicken yard. It has a very high fence and has never been bothered by much of anything. The only problem is that it can only grow a few things since it is so small.

So this year we are fencing in a plot to keep the deer out and our veggies in. You can see from the pics our progress. The most recent photo shows the fence up and veggies planted. Some were above ground when I planted them and some are emerging at this very moment. So exciting.

This last photo shows how much the peas in the first photo have grown already.

Art Therapy Workshop

I attended the most incredible workshop last week in Syracuse on Art Therapy. The subject was about using art therapy for grief and loss issues. The woman, Pamela Hayes, was an excellent teacher and gave us many hands on experiences and ideas for our work. I was introduced in a meaningful way to mandalas which I had heard about but had not really done anything with. We made several. But the part I like the most was the SoulCollage. We all brought a photo of a loved person or pet that had died and we used this technique to help process the loss. It was truly magical. I had brought a picture of our dog we had for over 15 years. The pictures above illustrate the soul collage and a mandala. Very enlightening experience. You can see a preview of Pamela Hayes new video on her website.

Isis Saturday Glass Bead Making

After we learned how to knit we set up another Isis Saturday and two fabulous glass beadmakers brought all their equipment and let us have a chance learning how to make glass beads. Our bead makers are Melanie Connor and Kim Klatt. They were great teachers and we all took home some beads.

Here is the set up we used. We are using a hothead and mapp gas. This is a good choice for beginners to get a sense of how beads are made. All the really well known bead makers use a combination of propane and oxygen which is faster and hotter. But we did well if we could make a bead in this slower, cooler mode. I came away from this experience with even more awe for the contemporary glass bead makers. In fact, I can't even imagine how they get all the detail they do into the beads that they make. Also, being a ceramic bead maker, I felt as if I could not control what I was doing at first since I am used to having the clay in my hands and having quite a bit of control over its shape. But you had better not reach out and touch that hot glass bead!!



We had the usual beginner's difficulties i.e. several beads did not come off the mandrel despite using a bead release medium, and several beads popped apart when we took them out of the vermiculite where they were cooling, too soon.

But we all enjoyed the process and learned that the torch is not so fierce and fearsome as we thought. In fact it is quite easy to use and handle.

Kim demonstrates making a glass bead. She holds the rod up at right angles to the bead. She makes a disk shape and them rounds it out. This makes a nice dimple in the center of the bead.

Spring Landscape Closeup

This Spring we have been treated to a fantastic display of flowering trees and bushes. This is a photo of our pear tree in bloom. It has never done anything like this before. I have never seen a Spring like this before in the North Country.

Pictures of some new colors for my square beads. They go well with this verdant landscape that is surrounding us in trees and grass. Greener than ever this year.

Beaders Go Green

Foremost Focal, the great online store that has me as its Featured New Artist, has had a great idea. They are going green. Now they have a section on their site where beaders can learn about all kinds of recycling ideas. They say " We want to hear how you reduce, re-use, recycle and our favorite new buzzword - repurpose" anything and everything, not just bead related recycling. But recycling in the jewelry making world means fun jewelry and fun techniques. I have recently purchased a wonderful book called Semi Precious Salvage [creating found-art jewelry] by Stephanie Lee that has excellent information on how to repurpose lots of old stuff into very stylish jewelry.

To share your recyling ideas, you can contact Foremost Focal at info@foremostfocal.com Thanks so much Chris for getting this going on your webstore.

Isis Saturday Knitting

I have always hated to knit. I was taught as a child and just found it to be very frustrating. And in fact Isis has tried to teach me in the past and I still hated it. But not too long ago our little artist group that makes up Isis Saturdays wanted to knit so I joined in. I had heard about and seen a one hour hat project that looked doable before I would become too frustrated. It was big yarn and big needles. In fact I had given my daughter-in-law needles and yarn for the project at Christmas. So we all agreed to try the hat since none of us are knitters. I had a lot of yarn around the house from when I was making bead crochet bracelets so I took some of that and some size 13 needles I had around for making large holes in beads for a macrame wall hanging project several years ago. I had a good attitude I thought when we got there and Isis was a magical teacher. This time I seemed to get it, a bit. I knitted and purled and so on until my arms ached ( I had very long needles and my knitting was a bit too tight.) We had a great lunch from all the wonderful dishes each of us brought.

Sally finished her hat. (Isis modeling Sally's hat.)

Karan finished her hat (Early on Karen had this much done and had never knitted before)

(Kim knitting on her son's hat)

and Kim almost did.

I had some rows done. When I got home I put it away. Later in the week I showed it to my husband and he thought it had promise. During the week I knitted away on it. Later I found out that I had made up a few knitting stitches. But it worked and the hat was finished. Only problem, a little too tight. So I started another. Meanwhile I decided to get some circular bamboo needles (Isis recommends) These were a great improvement. After awhile the needles get very slick and the yarn just flies off and makes the whole process a real pleasure.

Hat number two got finished that second week. It was great, colorful and fun to wear but perhaps a little too short.

Now with my circular bamboo needles I embarked on hat three. I ran out of yarn halfway through and picked up some chenille I had around for the top. For size it came out perfectly. If you don't look too closely, you don't see the holes, mistakes and made up stitches. But to wear it, it feels wonderful and is rather stylish I think.

My three hats. From left to right beginner hat--- to the one I like the best.

Many thanks to Isis our magical teacher.

Ceramic Bead Making Class Day 2

Luckily the second Saturday of my Ceramic Bead Making class turned out to be beautiful and sunny since we were outside glazing beads and raku firing them.

Here is a bird's eye view of the kiln of their fired bisque ware ready for glazing. I did slip some of mine in here too somewhere.

We all sat around two tables up in front of the entrance to my studio. This seems to be a great spot since there is electricity and we have quick access to my studio in case we need something.

Sally Hartman stopped by and made some oak leaves and fired a couple of beads. She makes lovely smoke fired earrings out of these leaves.

Here is a bead rack after the beads were quenched in cold water and the straw and sawdust rinsed off. You can see that there are some beauties there.

These are some of the raku beads (many went unphotographed since I was so busy I forgot to do it sooner) after they have been scrubbed with Ajax and dried. They are being photographed in the late late afternoon sun. I pulled the last load of beads out of the kiln about 6:00 PM. We had started at 12 Noon. Wow are those colors great!! Everyone made great beads. What a wonderful day we had. I am so glad that we did this!!

Jennifer Heynen's book Ceramic Bead Jewelry

A couple of days ago I received a copy of Jennifer Heynen's book Ceramic Bead Jewelry, published by Lark, in the mail from Amazon. I was really surprised to be sent a copy before the official publication date which I thought was June 3. I had preordered to the book at least a month ago. So I want to give everyone a chance to learn about this wonderful new book and how to order it. Of course you can get it from Amazon.com for a very nice price. I also have the book listed on my website in my favorites category and if you click on the title there it will take you directly to Amazon.com.
This is a wonderful book and especially so because of Jennifer's friendly and enthusiastic voice which comes through on every page. Her excitement about working with clay is catching.
The book covers all the basics of making clay beads and will be a great help to anyone starting out in ceramic clay. I found the directions easy to understand and was pleased to learn some new things myself. I was especially happy to find a very easy way of making molds and plan to try it this week. Her directions for making bead shapes is also easy to follow and had some new ideas for me.
The second half of the book is devoted to making jewelry. She has 30 different projects for the reader to make. Again the directions are simple and easy to understand and the jewelry is original and looks fun to wear. I especially like the Multi Strand Bracelet and the Square Bead Bracelet.
I hope all of you who are new to ceramic bead making will take a look at this great book which is the first major publication on the subject.
Congratulations Jennifer. We at BOC salute you and your achievements.
You can read more about Jennifer on her blog at her website and her Etsy Store